1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to mobile electronic transactions, and more particularly, to detecting and preventing unauthorized access to a mobile electronic device.
2. Related Art
Recent rapid advances in computer technology and telecommunications have increased the popularity of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce is becoming more and more prevalent, with an ever-increasing number of merchants that may or may not have a physical real world counterpart. Furthermore, the services offered by these merchants have been improving as well. The popularity of electronic commerce is partially attributable to the ease and convenience of making a transaction electronically—for example online—instead of at a physical location. Combining with the recent popularization of mobile electronic computing devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, online transactions are now increasingly performed on mobile devices, which offer greater convenience and simplicity for the buyers. In addition, these mobile electronic devices may be used as mobile wallets, for example they can be used to make payments at physical store locations as well.
Unfortunately, the popularity of mobile electronic transactions has also led to an increase in fraud activities. For example, a person may illegally and surreptitiously obtain access to a victim's mobile electronic devices, and thereafter attempt to purchase goods or engage in other nefarious activities through these devices. To combat these fraudulent activities, various forms of electronic transaction verification mechanisms have been implemented, but they may still suffer from various shortcomings. For example, existing methods of verifying mobile electronic transactions do not sufficiently take into account of the state of the mobile electronic devices, such as its position, movement, exposure to light, etc. As a result, existing electronic transaction verification mechanisms often fall short in detecting and preventing unauthorized access to mobile electronic devices.
Therefore, while existing electronic transaction verification mechanisms have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect. It would be advantageous to offer an electronic transaction verification system and method that take into account of a state of a mobile electronic device in determining whether certain electronic transactions are authorized or not.